Burning Time and Steel at UA: MNL
by tago-sans
Summary: A story of chance encounters leading to a blossoming friendship. How ordinary lives becoming seemingly infinite when you meet the right people. This story happens concurrently with events in the world timeline of Hero Academia. It being roughly around the time of the Sports Festival Arc. The setting, however, is different as it's been set in another country: The Philippines.
1. Martian Time

**THE PAST**

The great dunes of Mars and the sheer solitude that only dark matter can make you feel. John looked at the red planet's horizon. Its sky colored like television on a dead channel.

"Why the long face?" He could feel her breath brush against his nape.

"Oh." John looked at this woman with black hair and the brightest eyes he'd ever known. Mia. It was always Mia. Lucky him. "I guess I'm just homesick is all."

"Just a few months on course and we'll be there before you know it."

"Always the optimist." He reached out to her hand. "I'm just glad you'll be with me when we're home."

"Don't forget that it's not just us going. Mark and Mindy are coming with too."

"Oh, a double date. I guess they can watch."

Mia lightly slaps John's face in jest. "Ugh. That's just like you. Now, get ready. We're saying goodbye to the rest of the colony before we leave." She then leans in for a light kiss. "See you later, Tiger."

John was now left alone on the watch deck of the colony staring at the horizon again. His entire body covered in thermal wear. He was told that Mars could get cold, but he never expected it to be this cold.

He grabbed a martian pebble from his pocket and purposely dropped it then willed it to stop midair as it simultaneously developed a subtle sepia-tone. He manipulated the pebble and knew that, with its time stopped, this thing was virtually indestructible. This ability of his was the one special thing about him. He was one of the rare individuals with superpowers since the baby of light in China all those decades ago. Now he'll be back home probably lauded as a hero, but not because of his powers. Wonderful.

He looked at a photo of himself in a toga, still with that goofy haircut he hated, surrounded by a doting mother, an elderly father, a loving sister, and cuddly dog. He smiled. "_Home soon."_

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY! WE'RE HIT! OUR ENGINES ARE SHOT! WE'RE PREPARING FOR A CRASH—DAMN IT! GOD HELP US ALL!"

"JOHN!" Mia shouted, "You need to do it! Please for the love of God, save us!"

"I—I—DON'T! I DON'T KNOW!" John was frantic. He tried to stop time. We wished to God he could stop time at this very moment.

"John!" Her eyes filled with tears. "I love—"

Time was merciless.

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

"I hate you." Diego Esperanza says out loud as he was looking in the bathroom mirror. His bed hair looking particularly horrid almost equivalent to that of his morning breath. Some pubescent stubble, but only just enough to give him at least some sort of jawline. Getting out of bed was enough of a challenge already. Loving himself after seeing this sight was difficult to say the least.

The rest of his dorm room is clean. Immaculate? Potentially if it weren't for the untidiness of everything with papers strewn about everywhere, comic books and some sci fi or fantasy novels stacked to high heavens by his bedside table, and a few issues of the New Yorker he had sworn to read someday, but only skimmed through. "_More reasons to hate myself,'' he_ thought to himself.

"Diego!" Someone calls him from beyond his bedroom door. "Time to get up! Class starts at 9:00."

"I'm up!" He opens the door. "Don't worry, Billy, I'll be right with you."

There Billy was fully dressed in those nice little chinos and a tucked in polo shirt. His dyed blonde hair in that immaculate side-part and, wafting through the air, a hint of the scented pomade he uses. This boy's cologne is most definitely not cheap either.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, why don't 'cha?" Billy says. "You know what I'm here for!"

Diego leans in for a kiss. "Morning to you too, babe." It's hard to say no to those big brown eyes.

"I'll be waiting by the lobby. Love 'ya."

Diego, now alone in his room, looks at the mirror again for a brief, painful moment and—

"Man, this is only the first day of the semester, but I swear we have like a mountain of readings." Billy bemoaned. "English Literature, Hero Sociology. Etcetera, etcetera. Why are we studying here again?"

"Because UA Manila has the best Professional Hero Program in the entire country. Well that's a matter of debate, but you get the picture."

"I know, I know. I just wish we had less study time and more cuddle time."

"_Shh! _You know how I like my privacy." The boy blushes.

Billy adopts a crooked smile as a reply.

They continue on this old cobblestone road. Mid-rise buildings marking some of the horizon along with a fair amount of foliage. History... the old buildings in an architectural style of bygone eras along with this road originally meant for horses. It was… quaint. Diego likes that it sparks something in him. It's one of the last things that do.

There's something electric about seeing all these people walk down this historic path. One could never really tell who on this hallowed ground would be the next earthmovers of society or heroes of tomorrow. He could run into anyone here! Anyone amazing!

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Says another voice approaching them from their front. " If it isn't my favorite couple!"

"Hey, Johnny," Diego says.

"'Sup." Billy's usual response.

Someone he knows from another high school. He's in the management school of the university now. Diego had marked Johnny as someone he only thought about occasionally. Could the former help himself? He barely knew the guy. Connections and rapport can be useful, however.

"Yo!" Johnny exclaims. "Did you guys catch UA Tokyo's Sports Festival last night?"

"Weeb." Cutting words was Billy's thing.

"Hey," Johnny crosses his arms. "I like a good display of sportsmanship when I see it." The faux smugness is apparent.

"You mean seeing a bunch of high schoolers beat the snot out of each other?" Diego retorts.

"Well, this year was different." Johnny replies. "The kids there have got insane potential. Endeavor's kid was second place."

"Ah, Japan's No. 2?" Diego remarks. "How poetic. And who was first place? All Might's son?"

"Hardy har har." Johnny frowns a bit. "Ah, well there was a kid as strong as All Might… I think?"

"What?!" Billy's eyes widen. "No way. A high schooler?"

"Yeah, but every time he'd use his Quirk, his fingers and arms would break. He got eliminated in the tournament round early on though."

"Ouch…." Diego shakes his head. "I feel pretty sorry for the kid."

"Well, them's the breaks. Come on, babe, _lezzgo_."

"See you, Johnny!" Diego waves with a smile.

"We've got a date!"

"Have fun you, lovebirds!"

Diego looks out at the window of the cafe where he's eating cake with his boyfriend. The design is trendy with an array of lights up above, those chairs one sees everywhere in these new establishments, and a vintage bike hangs up on the wall somewhere. Many students here are taking selfies. "_Almost kitsch_." Diego thought. Not that all of his sentiments are justified. He had just happened to choose this place because Billy heard it was great. Coffee was fairly expensive, unfortunately so.

His hero costume is in a sealed briefcase in-hand. Billy has his costume by his side as well and is scrolling through his news feed.

"Selfie!" Billy says in a hushed shout.

Diego makes himself smile convincingly.

"Oh." Billy remarks.

"What is it?"

Billy simply shows Diego what's on the screen. It reads "CAPSULE FROM MARS FOUND; ONE SURVIVOR?"

"Sounds like clickbait," Diego replies. "Who posted it?"

"Does it matter? And it's not clickbait! Remember the Artemis Shuttle Crash from like a hundred years ago?"

"Oh, that's the one? Wait, one survivor? How is that…?"

"Dude had a quirk."

"Oh." Then it hits him. "Wait—"

A crash and an explosion is heard from their 4 o'clock.

"Villain?" Diego said.

"Maybe. _Lezzgo?"_

"Let's."


	2. Kronos Meets Hephaestus

A young man with auburn hair and green eyes, but the dark skin of his mother, runs and runs in nothing but some hastily put on jeans and a hospital gown. "John Jeremiah Salvador-Smith" is written on the hospital tag around his wrist. He sees the strangest kind of folks: anthropomorphic humans, giants, and people with faces that only remotely resemble that of humans. All that mixes in with average folk and facades of buildings he's supposed to recognize, but couldn't.

"_No flying cars? They have to be lying. Please, God."_

He runs into a wall. Only, however, it hadn't been a wall. This one said, "Hey! Watch it! I'm walking here!" It was a giant man made of rocks. John ran again in the opposite direction and thought, "_I must be dreaming!" _He runs and he runs aimlessly.

It was now and only now did he begin to recognize a few landmarks. The mall from his childhood was right before him. Yet these LED screens were never there before. The landscaping, different. He could worry about that later, however. Family first.

John runs yet again but then enters into a brisk walk as he runs out of steam. Then he finally finds the block he lives on. He then ducks into the alley path where his house is tucked into and through this winding maze he finds it. A new paint job and some new windows. He must have been gone longer than he thought. There's the window he could sneak out of to climb onto the roof. Where was his mother's herb garden out front though? A few changes, but this is still his house.

John rings the doorbell. The front door opens and a stranger exits. "Oh, hello there. May I help you?" The man said.

"D-do you know about the family that lives here? The Smiths? The Salvador-Smiths?"

"I don't think so." The man replied. "We only just moved in. That wasn't the name of the family who lived here before us though. Could I get your name, son?"

"I—there must be some mistake? Isn't this 713 Apollo Drive?"

"It is, son." The man paused. "Are you okay? Do you want me to call the police? They can bring you home."

"No! You really don't know The Salvador-Smiths that lived at 713 Apollo Drive at Bluevale Estates in Parañaque?! Do you know where I can find them? "

"Yes, this is the right place...? I don't know anyone with that info. Again, I can just call the police here and—".

"Please! You just have to be wrong! You just have to be—" John sinks into the pavement and can't even bear to look at the stranger before him.

"Are you okay, son?"

John jumps waist-high gate of the house and begins running up the stairs to the stranger. "Where's my family?! They have to be here?! You're lying?!"

"D-Don't come any closer! Please, no! My children!" The man tries to run back and close the door behind him, but John already has his foot in the door.

"WHERE ARE TH—"

"P-Papa?" A little girl appears from behind the man by the stairway. John then recoils momentarily enough for the stranger to push him out of the doorway. Various locks are audibly turned.

John simply stares blankly at the door and walks backwards. He trips and stumbles onto the ground. He runs away again. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He doesn't know where he's going. He's simply going anywhere and everywhere all at once. Then he goes weary from all that running and his pace slows down until he's simply walking without purpose.

"_Gone_." Time is merciless. Yet here he is, alone. "_Mia. Mama. Papa. Ate*._ _All ..."_

John hears a boom from up high that knocked him back to reality. He's at the mall again, but everyone around him is looking up at the sky. Human instinct kicks in and he tries to find what everyone is so worked up about.

John sees a figure in the sky. Is that a man… IN THE AIR?! This costumed crusader is waving at him. Not John specifically perhaps but at the whole crowd. This guy is just there in costume flying above everyone else.

"That's Sonic Ray! The Mach One Hero!" A kid shouts.

"Some say he's America's best export to this country." Another man in the crowd mentions.

"S-Superheroes?!" John says it out loud without thinking. Luckily, no one notices him. Yet he is still amazed at the sight of someone else with powers. This Sonic Ray then simply speeds off as fast as sound to who knows where.

It's now or never. Better ask someone to confirm his worst fears. "Excuse me!" John waves at the first random person he sees. "What year is it?"

They answered. It was something he didn't want to hear, but he bounced back.

"You have superheroes in this time?!" John needs answers now.

"Y-yes. Are you okay?" They walk backwards away from John. They're looking at this man in only a hospital gown and jeans. They exercise caution.

Another boom, but this time with a more explosive oomph is heard nearby. People run away from it and then John comes to another realization: In a world of superheroes, there are always—

"VILLAINS!" People run in fear while shouting that out.

A security guard ushers people into safer zones away from the chaos.

In the distance, John can see a giant humanoid shape. A golem made from molten glass. It roars and makes its demands.

"Like hell I'm going to jail! Let me go or this whole place comes down!"

Rubble flies everywhere as the villain crashes its fist into the surrounding structures. The police officers at the scene try to shoot at the golem, but to no avail and they disperse out of fear for their lives. John's first instinct is to flee until he sees it: a family huddling in fear as their routes to safety are being cut off by the rampaging villain. "_Now or never, John."_

John runs, again, but now faster than he's ever gone tonight. He grabs a large tarpaulin that's fallen to his side and freezes its time. It is now unbreakable. He carries it above his head to protect himself from falling debris. He sees a large mass of rock and steel about to fall on the family in front of him. He throws the frozen tarpaulin right above the family and he wills it to remain in place over their heads. The debris crashes into the tarpaulin and the family is unharmed. The amazement on his face is evident. He's done it. They're safe, at least for now.

"Are any of you hurt?" John says.

"Thank God, you're here." Says the woman. "I thought we were gonners!"

"We gotta get out of here! Come on—"

"LOOK OUT!" The man shouts and points behind John.

The former astronaut looks behind and sees a giant fist of molten glass careening right towards him. John instinctively slams a heavy piece of broken rebar into the fist. He is most definitely not going to win in a contest of strength, but he does have a trick up his sleeve. Once he wills something to remain in place it can never be moved. The impact of the fist with the immovable object forces some wind to blow past John. That really phones in how he was just inches away from certain doom right there.

Now comes the unfortunate side effect for the villain. Whenever someone who isn't John comes into contact with a time frozen object, they are hit with a surge of timeshock nausea and vertigo. The golem stumbles from these debilitating sensations. Its head circling and trying to keep up with a world off-balance. The golem is about to collapse. John, however, sees a bystander moments from being crushed by the falling villain.

"NO!" He tries to run to reach them, but then… someone swoops in, grabs the bystander, and vanishes. The golem crashes into a nearby building with no apparent casualties. John is shocked at first, but if there was another threat he had to take care of the family behind him. He looks around, but finds the family in a different spot than where they had just been; now away from the immediate danger. He tries to say something until he feels a hand on his shoulder.

His entire field of view and surroundings had warped into something else as if he'd been instantaneously moved to another location. The family and the bystander are right next to him. He does a 180o and sees another young man in a dark gray costume and goggles with immaculately side-parted, dyed blonde hair and the pomade holding everything together wafting through the air.

"Name's Billy or Snapshot if you'd like. Y'all ok?"

"Thank you!" The woman said to him. "Thank you, both!"

"Better get away from here fast." Billy says with a nod. "Police are nearby now methinks."

The family John had saved ran to the police who began to surround the area.

"Snapshot?" John says still stunned from the speedy rescue.

"Don't worry, deary. We've got this!" Billy replies with gusto. "You holding up ok, Diego—er—I mean Vulcan?"

John sees another young man in a yellow and navy blue ensemble with what looked like four prehensile limbs (clawed tentacles is another good word) on his back. He looked like a certain villain straight out of a comic book. With those extra limbs, he swiftly maneuvers around the glass golem villain; avoiding the bad guy's blows.

This second hero then calls the surrounding rebar, street signs, and even destroyed cars to himself as if he were a magnet. In an instant, all the metal around this hero seemingly liquifies and forms into a massive crude blade that immediately comes crashing down onto the back of the molten glass golem.

"Seems like the real villain is hiding inside," Says Diego. "I can see him glaring at me since I just carved a new one into his back."

"You need me to step in?" Billy is being coy.

"Almost done." Diego is smirking at this point. He then slashes into the golem's ankles causing it to buckle onto its knees. Having now maneuvered onto its back, he quickly and decisively rips apart the molten glass with his claws until he finally sees the true villain underneath. A simple application of his taser claws here. Now he simply pulls out the incapacitated foe who is promptly restrained via plastic cuffs.

"I told you I didn't need you," Diego boasted.

John could only look on in awe. There was a dreadful anticipation building up in him along with these ambivalent feelings he couldn't explain. This new world he was in, one that had moved on without him for over a hundred years, was all so new and exciting. For a minute there, it was as if he could forget everything he'd lost. Diego caught a glimpse of this young man as well, but thinks nothing of it yet. Neither of them had realized that this would be a chance encounter of a lifetime.


End file.
